At Maverick's insistence I'm posting a few shots from my trip to the North cascades. All shots are from a 10 mile 2100 ft vertical round trip from Holden Village to Holden Lake. For anglers, fishing was great at the two lakes I fished. Hart lake provided a couple dozen cuthroats between 6 and 11 inches with average about 9 inches. Holden Lake yielded almost as many rainbow/cut hybrids with average fish about the same but largest about 12 and no fish in the 10-11 inch range.

Above Holden Lake.JPG

Dumbell Mt and Avalanche debris.JPG

N. Spur of Dumbell Mt..JPG

cheers

Mike

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Mike

Who can't do everything he used to and what he can do takes a hell of a lot longer!

Thanks for posting. That is some impressively rugged and beautiful country. Few Californians are aware of the fact that the northern Cascades, is much more rugged and alpine than the Sierra in spite of its lower peak elevations above sea level. Speaking of fishing, perhaps you might look at the Washington Trailblazers discussion board's stunning 20"+ fish thread and go after some of those spots (I certainly would be if I was situated a bit further north).

Oh, I forgot to post the URL of the giant fish thread "Big alpine trout": http://www.watrailblazers.org/forum/vie ... p?f=1&t=62" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; Enjoy. Note that in addition to my California representative (from Gilmore, of course) there is another CA lake which is a particularly choice one (let's just say it's much harder to reach than Gilmore).

The North Cascades were a big surprise to me. I thought the mountains had run out along the Pacific Crest Trail. After I crossed Rainy Pass I was stunned by the terrain! I had one of the finest nights of the whole trail here.
See the PCT there! Heading down to Harts Pass just beyond that peak.
My Gossamer Gear "One" tent under Moonlight in the North Cascades. That is the last time I set it up on the trail.. just to block the wind.

Old thread I stumbled upon here. The North Cascades in North Cascades National Park and immediately south are one of the most rugged and wild ranges in the lower 48. Though the peaks top out at 7-9000', the valley floors average ~1000. 4-6000 foot vertical gains averaging 1000' a mile is common place on trails; a good place for young knees (perhaps that's why Fred Becky "retired" to the Sierra).